Course: Ilmu Sosial Untuk Psikologi
Human Realities in the light of
Sociology, Anthropology,
Philosophical Anthropology, and
Psychology
• It is quite common to make a distinction between the social
sciences and the humanities, which implies that disciplines
such as history, linguistics, literature, and philosophy are
separate from the social sciences, such as anthropology,
political science, psychology and sociology. The disciplines
listed in these two categories vary between countries and
universities.
• The term ‘human sciences’ is quite commonly used to
overcome this division, but ‘social sciences’ is also sometimes
used as a generic term referring to disciplines that are not
natural sciences.
Bina Nusantara
• We assume that at the level of a general synthesis of what we
now know about our object of study there cannot be any
grave difference between social sciences and humanities.
• Contrary to the common assumption, we think that
underneath the surface of competing schools of social
thought and research traditions there is a largely shared body
of knowledge about the object of social sciences; that object
we will call human reality.
Bina Nusantara
• There is a particular reason why we talk about human reality.
Since this is an introduction to social science knowledge, a
more conventional choice would be to talk about the social
reality or about human society.
• However, although social groups of more complex and largescale organizations, such as nation states, often serve as
objects and observation units of social research, the object of
knowledge of social science cannot satisfactorily be defined
that way.
Bina Nusantara
• To talk about social reality implies that material objects are
outside the scope of social science, which leads to an idealist
conception of social groups and organizations.
• By talking about human reality we refer to the entire reality
that we face and experience as human beings. It is not just
words, ideas or interaction with other talking subjects; we are
also living bodies coming to terms with natural and built
environments.
Bina Nusantara
• Although the natural sciences can and must exclude or
abstract away from the influence of human subjects when
analysing natural laws and processes, social scientists cannot
perform a similar abstraction and ignore material reality.
• Even when we are dealing with objects that hardly interfere
with human activities in any way – say, far-away galaxies or
the tiniest particles of which atoms are made – natural
science research can also be analysed from a social scientific
perspective.
Bina Nusantara
• That is because all knowledge is necessarily socially
constructed. It is dependent on the human imagination – that
is, on the intelligence and overall potential of the human race
to reflect on the reality it encounters.
• Even if we think that it only takes a single exceptional genius
to explain a particularly tricky phenomenon or aspect of
reality, such inventions are worthless if they cannot be
conveyed to others by using language, which is an essential
part of human reality.
Bina Nusantara
• The way human reality was described above implies that in a
sense all reality, including the reality that natural science
studies, belongs to human reality. However, social science is
interested in material reality only from certain perspectives.
On the one hand, material reality – or, more precisely, the
way it is conceived – sets conditions on human activities and
social systems.
• On the other hand, knowledge about material reality and
practices of gaining and utilizing that knowledge are essential
elements in the formation and daily reproduction of human
reality.
Bina Nusantara
• Thus, as social scientists we are interested in material reality
insofar as it plays a direct or indirect part in social action. In
many ways material conditions necessarily affect social
action, but on the other hand social systems and forms of
knowledge possessed by humans affect or, rather, set
conditions for an understanding of material reality.
• We discuss the main characteristics of the reality that we
humans encounter in our daily life in the light of sociology,
anthropology, philosophy, and psychology.
Bina Nusantara
Slide 11
UNDERSTANDING
SOCIOLOGY
• What is Sociology?
• What is Sociological Theory?
• The Development of Sociology
• Major Theoretical Perspectives
• Taking Sociology with You
• Careers in Sociology
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 12
A Look Ahead
█
█
█
█
█
How did sociology develop?
In what ways does it differ
from other social sciences?
Does it relate to other
social sciences?
Who are the pioneers?
How does sociology help us
develop a sociological imagination?
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 13
What is Sociology?
█
█
Sociology: Scientific study of social
behavior in human groups
Focus on:
– How relationships
influence people’s
attitudes and behavior
– How societies
develop and change
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 14
The Sociological
Imagination
█
C. Wright Mills describes sociological
imagination as:
An awareness of the
relationship between
an individual and the
wider society
A key element is
ability to view
one’s society as
an outsider would
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 15
The Sociological
Imagination
█
Looks beyond a limited
understanding of human behavior
– View the world
and its people in
a new way
– See through a
broader lens
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 16
Sociology and
the Social Sciences
█
Science: Body of knowledge obtained by
methods based on systematic observation
– Natural science:
Study of physical
features of nature
and the ways they
interact and change
– Social science:
Study of social
features of humans
and the ways they
interact and change
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 17
Sociology and
the Social Sciences
Study influence society has on
people’s attitudes and behavior
█ Seek to understand ways in which
people interact and shape society
█ Examine social relationships scientifically
█
• Haiti earthquake
• Virginia Tech shootings
• Katrina
sociologists advise
government agencies
on responding
to disasters
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 18
Table 1-1: Sections of the
American Sociological Association
Source: American Sociological Association 2010b.
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 19
Sociology and Common Sense
█
Sociologists do not accept something as
fact because “everyone knows it”
– Each piece of information must
be tested, recorded, and analyzed
Women tend to be chatty
Military marriages more likely
to end in separation or divorce
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Slide 20
What Is
Sociological Theory?
█
Theory: Set of statements that seeks to
explain problems, actions, or behavior
– Effective theories have
explanatory and predictive power
– Theories are not a final
statement about human behavior
Durkheim suicide studies: suggested
suicide related to group life
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 21
The Development
of Sociology
█
█
Philosophers/religious authorities
of ancient and medieval societies
made observations of human behavior
European theorists in 19th
century made pioneering
contributions to development
of the science of human behavior
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 22
Early Thinkers
█
Auguste Comte (1798–1857)
– Systematic investigation of behavior
needed to improve society
– Coined term “sociology”
█
Harriet Martineau (1802–1876)
– Studied social behavior in Britain and U.S.
– Emphasized impact of economy, law, trade,
health, and population on social problems
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 23
Early Thinkers
█
Herbert Spencer (1820–1903)
– Studied “evolutionary” change in society
█
Émile Durkheim (1858–1917)
– Behavior must be understood
within larger social context
Anomie: Loss of direction felt in a society when social
control of individual behavior becomes ineffective
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 24
Early Thinkers
█
Max Weber (1864–1920)
– To comprehend behavior, one
must learn subjective meanings
people attach to actions
– Verstehen: understanding; insight
Ideal type: Construct for
evaluating specific cases
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Slide 25
Early Thinkers
█
Karl Marx (1818–1883)
– Society divided between two classes
that clash in pursuit of interests
– Worked with Engels
– Emphasized group
identification and
Working class
associations that
should overthrow
influence one’s
existing class system
place in society
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 26
Early Thinkers
█
W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963)
– Black sociologists assisted
struggle for racially egalitarian society
– Knowledge essential in combating prejudice
– In-depth studies of urban life
• Focused on religion at community level
Double consciousness:
Division of individual’s identity
into two or more social realities
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Slide 27
Twentieth-Century Developments
█
Charles Horton Cooley (1864–1929)
– Used sociological perspective
to examine face-to-face groups
█
Jane Addams (1860–1935)
– Combined intellectual inquiry, social
service work, and political activism
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Slide 28
Modern Developments
█
Robert Merton (1910–2003)
– Combined theory and research
– Developed explanation of deviant behavior
Macrosociology:
Concentrates on
large-scale
phenomena or
entire civilizations
Microsociology:
Stresses study
of small groups,
often through
experimental means
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 29
Modern Developments
█
Pierre Bourdieu (1930–2002)
– Capital sustains individuals and families
from one generation to the next
Cultural capital:
noneconomic goods
reflected in
knowledge of
language and arts
Social capital:
collective benefit of
social networks
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 30
Major Theoretical Perspectives
█
Functionalist perspective
█
Conflict perspective
█
Interactionist perspective
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 31
Functionalist Perspective
█
Emphasizes the way parts of a society
are structured to maintain its stability
– Talcott Parsons
(1902–1972)
• Viewed society as vast
network of connected parts
• Each helps maintain
the system as a whole
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 32
Functionalist Perspective
– Manifest functions: Institutions are
open, stated, conscious functions that
involve intended and recognized
consequences of an aspect of society
– Latent functions: Unconscious or
unintended functions that may reflect
hidden purposes of an institution
– Dysfunctions: Elements or
processes of society that may
disrupt a social system or its stability
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 33
Conflict Perspective
█
█
Assumes social behavior is best
understood in terms of conflict or
tension between competing groups
The Marxist View: Conflict is
part of everyday life in all societies
– Conflict theorists more “radical”
and “activist” than functionalists
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Slide 34
Conflict Perspective
█
The Feminist view
– Sees inequality in gender as
central to all behavior and organization
– Often allied with conflict perspective
– Proponents tend to focus on macro level
– Broadened social behavior by extending
analysis beyond male point of view
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 35
Interactionist Perspective
█
Generalizes about everyday
forms of social interaction to
explain society as a whole
– Humans viewed as living in
a world of meaningful objects
Nonverbal communication: Includes
gestures, facial expressions, and postures
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 36
Interactionist Perspective
█
George Herbert Mead (1863–1931)
– Regarded as founder of
interactionist perspective
█
Erving Goffman (1922–1982)
– Dramaturgical approach: People
seen as theatrical performers
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 37
Table 1-2: Major Sociological Perspectives
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 38
The Sociological Approach
█
Gain broadest understanding of society
by drawing on all major perspectives
– Each perspective offers unique
insights into the same issue
█
Researcher’s work always guided by
his or her theoretical viewpoint
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 39
Research Today
█
1.1: Looking at the Gulf Coast Oil Spill
from Four Sociological Perspectives
– Which of the four sociological
perspectives seems most useful to you in
analyzing the Gulf Coast oil crisis? Why?
– The economic crisis that began in 2008
had disastrous personal consequences
for many. Use the four sociological
perspectives to analyze what happened
to you, your family, and your community.
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 40
Taking Sociology with You
█
Examine two
fields of sociology
– Applied
– Clinical
█
Learn to develop
sociological imagination
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 41
Applied and Clinical Sociology
█
Applied sociology:
Use of sociology with
intent of yielding
practical applications
for human behavior
and organizations
█
Clinical sociology:
Facilitating change
by altering social
relationships or
restructuring social
institutions
Basic sociology: Seeks profound knowledge of
fundamental aspects of social phenomena
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 42
Developing a
Sociological Imagination
█
Theory in Practice
Research Today
█ Thinking Globally
█
– Globalization: Worldwide integration of
government policies, cultures, social
movements, and financial markets
through trade and the exchange of ideas
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 43
Developing a
Sociological Imagination
█
The Significance of Social Inequality
– Social Inequality: Condition in which
members of society have differing
amounts of wealth, prestige, or power
Speaking Across Race,
Gender, and Religious Boundaries
█ Social Policy throughout the World
█
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 44
Sociology in the
Global Community
█
1.2: Your Morning Cup of Coffee
– Would you willingly pay more for
a cup of coffee if you knew that
the worker who picked the beans
would benefit from the higher price?
– The coffee trade has been blamed for
perpetuating social inequality, warfare,
and global warming. Can you think of
any positive effects of the coffee trade?
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 45
Careers in Sociology
█
Number of students graduating with
degree in sociology has risen steadily
– Provides strong liberal arts background for
entry-level positions
•
•
•
•
•
•
Business
Social services
Foundations
Community organizations
Law enforcement
Government
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 46
Figure 1-2: Sociology Degrees
Conferred in the U.S. by Gender
Source: National Center for Education Statistics 2010:Table 275 on p. 413.
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 47
Figure 1-3: Occupations of
Graduating Sociology Majors
Note: Based on a national survey conducted in early 2007 of
1,800 sociology majors who graduated in 2005.
Source: Spalter-Roth and Van Vooren 2008a, p. 3.
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
What is Anthropology?
This chapter introduces students to the
textbook by discussing how Anthropology is
defined and how it relates to other
academic fields. It also discusses the
different subfields and dimensions that exist
within Anthropology.
McGraw-Hill
© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
What is Anthropology?

Anthropology is the study of the human species and its immediate
ancestors.



Anthropology is holistic in that the discipline is concerned with studying the
whole of the human condition: past, present and future. Anthropology
studies biology, society, language, and culture.
Anthropology offers a unique cross-cultural perspective by constantly
comparing the customs of one society with those of others.
People share both society and culture.



Society is organized life in groups, a feature that humans share with other
animals.
Cultures are traditions and customs, transmitted through learning, that
govern the beliefs and behaviors of the people exposed to them.
While culture is not biological, the ability to use it rests in hominid biology.
McGraw-Hill
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Adaptation, Variation, and Change

Adaptation is the process by which organisms cope with
environmental stresses.


Human adaptation involves interaction between culture and
biology to satisfy individual goals.
Four types of human adaptation:




McGraw-Hill
cultural (technological) adaptation
genetic adaptation
long-term physiological or developmental adaptation
immediate physiological adaptation
© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Adaptation, Variation, and Change

Humans are the most adaptable animals in the world,
having the ability to inhabit widely variant ecological
niches.


Humans, like all other animals use biological means to adapt
to a given environment.
Humans are unique in having cultural means of adaptation.
McGraw-Hill
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Adaptation, Variation, and Change



Through time, social and cultural means of adaptation have
become increasingly important for human groups.
Human groups have devised diverse ways of coping with a wide
range of environments.
The rate of this cultural adaptation has been rapidly accelerating
during the last 10,000 years.



Food production developed between 12,000 and 10,000 years ago
after millions of years during which hunting and gathering was the
sole basis for human subsistence.
The first civilizations developed between 6,000 and 5,000 years
ago.
More recently, the spread of industrial production has profoundly
affected human life.
McGraw-Hill
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Four Subdisciplines of Anthropology
The academic discipline of American anthropology is
unique in that it includes four subdisciplines: cultural
anthropology, archaeological anthropology, biological or
physical anthropology, and linguistic anthropology.
 This four field approach developed in the US as early
American anthropologists studying native peoples of North
America became interested in exploring the origins and
diversity of the groups that they were studying.
 This broad approach to studying human societies did not
develop in Europe (e.g. Archaeology, in most European
universities, is not a subdiscipline of anthropology; it is its
own department).

McGraw-Hill
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Origins of American Anthropology
American anthropology arose out of
concern for the history and cultures of
Native North Americans. Ely S.
Parker was a Seneca Indian who made
important contributions to early
anthropology.
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Companies,
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reserved.
Photo
Credit: Inc.
Smithsonian
Four Subdisciplines of Anthropology



Variation in “Time” (diachronic research): using information
from contemporary groups to model changes that took place in
the past, and using knowledge gained from past groups to
understand what is likely to happen in the future (e.g.
reconstructing past languages using principles based on modern
ones).
Variation in “Space” (synchronic research): comparing
information collected from human societies existing at the same
or roughly the same time, but from different geographic
locations (e.g. the race concept in the US, Brazil, and Japan).
Any conclusions about “human nature” must be pursued with a
comparative, cross-cultural approach.
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Cultural Forces and Human Biology

Cultural traditions promote certain activities and abilities,
discourage others, and set standards of physical well-being
and attractiveness.



Participation and achievement in sports is determined by
cultural factors, not racial ones.
In Brazilian culture, women should be soft, with big hips and
buttocks, not big shoulders; since competitive swimmers
tend to have big, strong, shoulders and firm bodies,
competitive swimming is not very popular among Brazilian
females.
In the US, there aren’t many African-American swimmers or
hockey players, not because of some biological reason, but
because those sports aren’t as culturally significant as
football, basketball, baseball, and track.
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Intelligence Tests

There is no conclusive evidence for biologically based
contrasts in intelligence between rich and poor, black and
white, or men and women.


The best indicators of how any individual will perform on an
intelligence test are environmental, such as educational,
economic, and social background.
All standard tests are culture-bound and biased because they
reflect the training and life experiences of those who develop
and administer them.
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Culture and Sports
Years of swimming sculpt a
distinctive physique. The
countries that tend to
produce successful female
swimmers are the United
States, Canada, Australia,
Germany, Scandinavia, and
the former Soviet Union,
where this body type isn’t as
stigmatized for women as it
is in Latin countries.
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Companies,
Inc. All
rights reserved.
Photo
Credit: David
Madison/
Duomo
Intelligence Tests

Jensenism asserts that African-Americans are hereditarily
incapable of doing as well as whites.


Named for Arthur Jensen, the educational psychologist who
observed that on average African-Americans perform less
well on intelligence tests that Euro-Americans and AsianAmericans.
This racist notion of the inborn inferiority of AfricanAmericans recently resurfaced in the 1994 book The Bell
Curve by Richard Hernnstein and Charles Murray.
McGraw-Hill
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The Bell Curve (1994)
Like Jensen, Hernnstein and Murray disregard more
convincing environmental explanations in favor of a
genetic one to explain patterns observed in intelligence test
scores.
 An environmental explanation acknowledges that for many
reasons, both genetic and environmental, some people are
smarter than others, however these differences in
intelligence cannot be generalized to characterize whole
populations or social groups.
 Psychologists have come up with many ways to measure
intelligence, but there are problems with all of them.

McGraw-Hill
© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Intelligence Tests

Intelligence tests reflect the experiences of the people who
write them.



Middle- and upper-class children do well because they share
the test makers’ educational expectations and standards.
The SATs claim to measure intellectual aptitude but they
also measure the type and quality of high school education,
linguistic and cultural background, and parental wealth.
Studies have shown that performance on the SATs can be
improved by coaching and preparation, placing those
students who can pay for an SAT preparation course at an
advantage.
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Intelligence Tests

Cultural biases in testing affect performance by people in
other cultures as well as different groups in the same
nation.


Native Americans scored the lowest of any group in the US,
but when the environment during growth and development
for Native Americans is similar to that of middle-class
whites, the test scores tend to equalize (e.g. the Osage
Indians).
At the start of World War I, African-Americans living in the
north scored on average better than whites living in the south
due to the better public school systems in the north.
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Cultural Anthropology
Cultural Anthropology combines ethnography and ethnology to study
human societies and cultures for the purpose of explaining social and
cultural similarities and differences.
 Ethnography produces an account (a book, an article, or a film) of a
particular community, society, or culture based on information that is
collected during fieldwork.
 Generally, ethnographic fieldwork involves living in the
community that is being studied for an extended period of time
(e.g. 6 months to 2 years).
 Ethnographic fieldwork tends to emphasize local behavior, beliefs,
customs, social life, economic activities, politics, and religion,
rather then developments at the national level.
 Since cultures are not isolated, ethnographers must investigate the
local, regional, national, and global systems of politics,
economics, and information that expose villagers to external
influences.
© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
McGraw-Hill

Cultural Anthropology

Ethnology examines, interprets, analyzes, and compares the
ethnographic data gathered in different societies to make
generalizations about society and culture.


Ethnology uses ethnographic data to build models, test
hypotheses, and create theories that enhance our
understanding of how social and cultural systems work.
Ethnology works from the particular (ethnographic data) to
the general (theory).
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Cultural Anthropology
Comparison between Ethnography and Ethnology
ETHNOGRAPHY
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ETHNOLOGY
requires fieldwork to collect
data
draws upon data collected by a
series of researchers
descriptive
synthetic
group/community specific
comparative/cross-cultural
© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Archaeological Anthropology
Archaeological anthropology reconstructs, describes, and
interprets past human behavior and cultural patterns
through material remains.
 The material remains of a culture include artifacts (e.g.
potsherds, jewelry, and tools), garbage, burials, and the
remains of structures.
 Archaeologists use paleoecological studies to establish the
ecological and subsistence parameters within which given
group lived.

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Archaeological Anthropology
The archaeological record provides archaeologists the
unique opportunity to look at changes in social complexity
over thousands and tens of thousands of years (this kind of
time depth is not accessible to ethnographers).
 Archaeology is not restricted to prehistoric societies.



Historical archaeology combines archaeological data and
textual data to reconstruct historically known groups.]
William Rathje’s “garbology” project in Tucson, Arizona.
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Biological Anthropology


Biological, or physical, anthropology investigates human
biological diversity across time and space.
There are five special interests within biological anthropology:






paleoanthropology: human evolution as revealed by the fossil record
human genetics
human growth and development
human biological plasticity: the body’s ability to change as it copes with
stresses such as heat, cold, and altitude
primatology: the study of the biology, evolution, behavior, and social life of
primates.
Biological anthropology is multidisciplinary as it draws on
biology, zoology, geology, anatomy, physiology, medicine,
public health, osteology, and archaeology.
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Biological Anthropology
Paleoanthropologists study the fossil
record of human evolution. This photo
shows Professor Teuku Jacob with early
fossil skulls from Java, Indonesia.
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The McGraw-Hill
Companies,
All rights
reserved.
Credit: Kenneth
GarrettInc.
/ National
Geographic
Linguistic Anthropology
Linguistic anthropology is the study of language in its
social and cultural context across space and time.
 Some linguistic anthropologists investigate universal
features of language that may be linked to uniformities in
the human brain.
 Historical linguists reconstruct ancient languages and study
linguistic variation through time.
 Sociolinguistics investigates relationships between social
and linguistic variation to discover varied perceptions and
patterns of thought in different cultures.

McGraw-Hill
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Theoretical/Academic Anthropology

Theoretical/academic anthropology includes the four
subfields discussed above (cultural, archaeological,
biological, and linguistic anthropology).


Directed at collecting data to test hypotheses and models that
were created to advance the field of anthropology.
Generally, theoretical/academic anthropology is carried out
in academic institutions (e.g. universities and specialized
research facilities).
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Applied Anthropology

Applied anthropology is the application of any of
anthropological data, perspectives, theory, and techniques
to identify, assess, and solve contemporary social problems.


Some standard subdivisions have developed in applied
anthropology: medical anthropology, environmental
anthropology, forensic anthropology, and development
anthropology.
Applied anthropologists are generally employed by
international development agencies, like the World Bank,
United States Agency for International Development
(USAID), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the
United Nations.
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Medical Anthropology
Medical anthropology
studies health conditions
from a cross-cultural
perspective. In Uganda's
Mwiri primary school
children are taught about
HIV.
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by TheJorgen
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Inc. /
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rights
reserved.
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SchytteCompanies,
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Peter
Arnold,
Inc.
Applied Anthropology
Applied anthropologists assess the social and cultural
dimensions of economic development.
 Development projects often fail when planners ignore the
cultural dimensions of development.
 Applied anthropologists work with local communities to
identify specific social conditions that will influence the
failure or success of a development project.

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Two Dimensions of Anthropology
The Four Subfields and Two Dimensions of Anthropology
GENERAL
ANTHROPOLOGY
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APPLIED
ANTHROPOLOGY
Cultural Anthropology
Medical Anthropology
Archaeological Anthropology
Cultural Resource Management
(CRM)
Biological or Physical
Anthropology
Forensic Anthropology
Linguistic Anthropology
Non-government Organizations
(NGO’s)
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Anthropology and Other Fields
Anthropology’s own broad scope has always lent it to
interdisciplinary collaboration.
 Anthropology is a science, in that it is a systematic field of
study that uses experiments, observations, and deduction to
produce reliable explanations of human cultural and
biological phenomena.
 Anthropology is also one of the humanities, in that is
encompasses the study and cross-cultural comparison of
languages, texts, philosophies, arts, music, performances
and other forms of creative expression.

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Cultural Anthropology and
Sociology
Formerly, sociology focused on “western” societies while
anthropology looked at “exotic” societies.
 Cultural anthropological methodologies have primarily
been in-depth and qualitative (e.g. participant observation).
 Sociological methodologies tended to be mainly
quantitative (statistically based).
 The trend toward increasing interdisciplinary cooperation
(deconstruction) is causing these differences to disappear.

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Political Science and Economics
While other disciplines have looked at such institutions as
economics and politics as distinct and amenable to separate
analysis, anthropology has emphasized their relatedness to
other aspects of the general social order.
 Anthropology has tended to emphasize cross-cultural
variation in such institutions, in contrast to the almost
exclusively Western orientation of the other disciplines.

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Anthropology and the Humanities
The anthropological concept of “culture” has gained
increasing influence in the humanities’ treatment of human
artifacts.
 In turn, cultural studies have brought a fuller recognition of
the influence such artifacts may exert on human behavior.

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Anthropology and Psychology
Anthropology has contributed a cross-cultural perspective
to concepts developed in psychology.
 The school of cultural anthropology known as culture and
personality has emphasized child rearing practices as the
fundamental means for transmitting culture.

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Anthropology and History
The convergence between the disciplines of anthropology
and history has been marked, particularly during the last
decade.
 Recent treatments of colonial history have emphasized the
importance of understanding the cultural contexts of
historical records.
 Kottak argues for some continued distinction between
history and anthropology, on the basis of history’s focus on
the movement of individuals through roles, as opposed to
anthropology’s focus on change in structure or form.

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In the Field
This chapter introduces students to the field
methods and research methods employed
by anthropologists. It pays special attention
to the field methods of ethnographers and
archaeologists, to survey research, and to
funding and ethics in anthropology.
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Ethnography
Ethnography is the firsthand personal study of a local
cultural setting.
 Ethnographers try to understand the whole of a particular
culture, not just fragments (e.g. the economy).
 In pursuit of this holistic goal, ethnographers usually spend
an extended period of time living with the group they are
studying and employ a series of techniques to gather
information.
 The early ethnographers conducted research almost
exclusively among small-scale, relatively isolated societies,
with simple technologies and economics.

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Participant Observation
Ethnographers are trained to be aware of and record details
from daily events, the significance of which may not be
apparent until much later.
 “Participant observation,” as practiced by ethnographers,
involves the researcher taking part in the activities being
observed.
 Unlike laboratory research, ethnographers do not isolate
variables or attempt to manipulate the outcome of events
they are observing.

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Ethnography
Here, ethnographer
Nadine Peacock
works among the Efe
of Congo.
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reserved.
Photo Credit:
Irven DeVore
/ Anthro-Photo
Conversation and Interviewing
Ethnographic interviews range in formality from undirected
conversation, to open-ended interviews focusing on
specific topics, to formal interviews using a predetermined
schedule of questions.
 Increasingly, more than one of these methods are used to
accomplish complementary ends on a single ethnographic
research project.

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The Genealogical Method
Early anthropologists identified types of relatedness, such
as kinship, descent, and marriage, as being the fundamental
organizing principals of nonindustrial societies.
 The genealogical method of diagramming such kin
relations was developed as a formalized means of
comparing kin-based societies.

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Ethnographic Techniques
Key Cultural Consultants are particularly well-informed
members of the culture being studied that can provide the
ethnographer with some of the most useful or complete
information.
 Life histories are intimate and personal collections of a
lifetime of experiences from certain members of the
community being studied.



Life histories reveal how specific people perceive, react to,
and contribute to changes that affect their lives.
Since life histories are focused on how different people
interpret and deal with similar issues, they can be used to
illustrate the diversity within a given community.
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Ethnographic Techniques
Anthropologists such as
Christie Kiefer typically
form personal
relationships with cultural
consultants, such as this
Guatemalan weaver.
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Credit:
Peggy /Companies,
Yoran Kahana
Peter
Arnold,
Inc.
Emic vs. Etic

An emic (native-oriented) approach investigates how
natives think, categorize the world, express thoughts, and
interpret stimuli.



Emic means the “native viewpoint”
Key cultural consultants are essential for understanding the
emic perspective.
An etic (science-oriented) approach emphasizes the
categories, interpretations, and features that the
anthropologist considers important.
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The Evolution of Ethnography

Bronislaw Malinowski is generally considered the father of
ethnography.



He did salvage ethnography, recording cultural diversity that
was threatened by westernization.
His ethnographies were scientific accounts of unknown
people and places.
Ethnographic realism


The writer’s goal was to produce an accurate, objective,
scientific account of the study community.
The writer’s authority was rooted in his or her personal
research experience with that community.
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Bronislaw Malinowski
Malinowski believed that all aspects of culture were linked
and intertwined, making it impossible to write about just
one cultural feature without discussing how it relates to
others.
 Malinowski argued that understanding the emic
perspective, the native’s point of view, was the primary
goal of ethnography.

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Bronislaw Malinowski
Here, Bronislaw
Malinowski is seated
with villagers of the
Trobriand Islands.
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by The
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AllPolitical
rights reserved.
Photo Credit: British Library of Political & Economic
Science
London
School Companies,
of Economics
Science
Interpretive Anthropology
Interpretive anthropologist believe that ethnographers
should describe and interpret that which is meaningful to
the natives.
 Geertz argues that cultures are texts that natives constantly
“read” and that ethnographers must decipher.
 Meanings in a given culture are carried by public symbolic
forms, including words, rituals, and customs.

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Experimental Anthropology
Experimental anthropologists, like Marcus and Fischer,
have begun to question the traditional goals, methods, and
styles of ethnographic realism and salvage ethnography.
 Ethnographies should be viewed as both works of art and
works of science.
 The ethnographer functions as the mediator who
communicates information from the natives to the readers.

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Ethnographic Present
The early ethnographies were often written in the
ethnographic present, a romanticized timelessness before
westernization, that gave the ethnographies an eternal,
unchanging quality.
 Today, anthropologists understand that this is an unrealistic
construct that inaccurately portrayed the natives as isolated
and cut off from the rest of the world.
 Ethnographers today recognize that cultures constantly
change and that this quality must be represented in the
ethnography.

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Problem-Oriented Ethnography
Ethnographers typically address a specific problem or set of
problems, within the context of broader depictions of
cultures.
 Variables with the most significant relationship to the
problem being addressed are given priority in the analysis.

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Longitudinal Research
Longitudinal Research is the long-term study of a
community, region, society, or culture based on a series of
repeated visits.
 Longitudinal research has become increasingly common
among ethnographic studies, as repeat visits to field sites
have become easier.
 Such studies may also encompass multiple, related sites.
 Team Research involves a series of ethnographers
conducting complimentary research in a given community,
culture, or region.

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Archaeological Survey
Systematic survey provides a regional perspective on the
archaeological record.
 Survey collects information on settlement patterns (e.g. the
location of cities, towns, villages, and hamlets) over a large
area (e.g. a river valley).
 Survey is one of the ways in which archaeologists locate
sites that might be excavated in the future.
 During a survey, the team records the location, the size, and
the approximate age of the site.

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Settlement Patterns
Settlement patterns are important for making inferences
regarding the social complexity of the prehistoric
communities.
 Groups at lower levels of complexity generally have lower
population densities and people living in small campsites or
hamlets with very little variation in architecture.
 With greater complexity, comes higher population densities
(more people living in the same space) and a variety of
sites organized along a settlement hierarchy (e.g. cities,
towns, villages, and hamlets) with increased architectural
variation between sites.

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Excavation
Excavation compliments the regional survey data with
more fine grained data collected at the level of a specific
site.
 The layers or strata that make up a site help archaeologists
establish a relative chronology for the material recovered
(e.g. this pot is older than that pot).



The principle of superposition states that in an undisturbed
sequence of strata, the oldest is on the bottom and each
successive layer above is younger than the one below.
Artifacts from the lower strata are older than artifacts from
higher strata and artifacts from the same strata are roughly
the same age.
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Excavation: Planning
Nobody digs a site without a clear reason, because there are
so many sites and because excavation is so expensive and
labor intensive.
 Cultural Resource Management (CRM) or contract
archaeology is concerned with excavating sites that are
threatened by modern development.
 Most other sites are selected for excavation because they
are well suited to address a series of specific research
questions.

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Excavation: Preparation

Before a site is excavated, it is first mapped and surface
collected so that the archaeologist can make an informed
decision about where to dig.


Using the map, the archaeologist lays an arbitrary grid of one
meter squares across the site.
This grid is used to record the location of the surface
collection units as well as the excavation units on the surface
of the site.
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Excavation: Preparation
Archaeologists use
grids, such as this grid in
Teotihuican, Mexico, in
order to record the
location of artifacts
recovered during
excavation.
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reserved.
Credit: Kenneth
GarrettInc.
/ National
Geographic
Excavation: Stratigraphy

Digging can be done in either arbitrary levels or by
following the natural stratigraphy.


Using arbitrary level is quicker, but less refined and
important information can be lost.
Following the natural stratigraphy is more labor intensive,
but also more precise way of excavating as each layer
(natural or cultural) is peeled off one by one.
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Excavation: Stratigraphy
James Adovasio
records the stratigraphy
of the Meadowcroft
rock shelter site in
southwestern
Pennsylvania.
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All Scott
rightsGoldsmith
reserved.
Photo Inc.
Credit:
Excavation: Recovery

Archaeologists use a range of techniques to recover
materials from the excavation.


All of the excavated soil is passed through screen to increase
the likelihood that small and fragmented remains are
recovered.
Flotation is used to recovered carbonized and very small
materials like fish bones and seeds.
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Show Me The Money
Anthropologists need funding to support their research in
the field.
 There are a series of agencies that support anthropological
research.





National Science Foundation (NSF)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Social Science Research Council (SSRC)
Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research
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Show Me The Money
In order to receive funding from any of these institutions,
anthropologists must write grant proposals that summarize
what questions are going to be addressed, where the
research will be conducted, and how it will be done.
 Why this topic/problem?



The grant writer must present the topic or problem that they
will address during the proposed research.
More importantly, the writer needs to convince the agency
that the topic is important and worthy of being funded.
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Show Me The Money
Why this place?
 The grant writer needs to demonstrate the connection between the
research topic and the location where the research will be carried
out.
 Some locations address certain topics better than others.
 Why this person?
 The grant writer needs to identify the special qualifications that he
or she brings to the research topic.
 Proficiency in the local language, previous research experience in
the area, and strong local contacts are important.
 How will the study be done?
 The grant writer needs to discuss, as specifically as possible, how
this research will be carried out.
 This section can include a discussion of the techniques and
methods as well as the logistics of living
in the study community
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McGraw-Hill

Ethics: People and Animals






The primary ethical obligation of the anthropologist is to the people,
species, or materials he or she studies.
Researchers must respect the safety, dignity, and privacy of the
people, species or materials that he or she studies.
Researchers should determine in advance whether their hosts wish to
remain anonymous or receive recognition.
Researchers should obtain the informed consent of the people to be
studied and of those whose interests may be affected by the research.
Anthropologists who develop close relationships with individuals
must adhere to the obligations of openness and informed consent.
Anthropologists may gain personally form their work, but they must
not exploit individuals, groups, animals, or cultural or biological
materials.
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Ethics: Scholarship and Science








Anthropologists should expect to encounter ethical dilemmas during
their work.
Anthropologists are responsible for the integrity and reputation of
their discipline, of scholarship, and of science.
Researchers should do all they can to preserve opportunities for future
field work.
To the extent possible, researchers should disseminate their findings
to the scientific and scholarly community.
Anthropologists should consider reasonable requests for access to
their data for purposes of research.
Responsibility to the public.
Researchers should make their results available to sponsors, students,
decision makers, and other non-anthropologists.
Anthropologists may move beyond disseminating research results to a
position of advocacy.
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Ethics: Teaching





Anthropologists should conduct their programs in ways that preclude
discrimination on the basis of sex, marital status, “race”, social class,
political convictions, disability, religion, ethnic background, national
origin, sexual orientation, and age.
Anthropologists should strive to improve their teaching and training
techniques.
Teachers should impress a concern with ethics on their students.
Teachers should properly acknowledge student assistance in their
research and in the preparation of their work.
Teachers must avoid sexual liaisons with those for whose education
and professional training they are in any way responsible.
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Ethics for Applied Anthropology
Applied anthropologists should use and disseminate their
work appropriately.
 With employers, applied anthropologists should be honest
about their qualifications, capabilities, aims, and intentions.
 Applied anthropologists should be alert to the danger of
compromising ethics as a condition for engaging in
research or practice.

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Survey Research


Anthropologists working in large-scale societies are increasingly
using survey methodologies to complement more traditional
ethnographic techniques.
 Survey involves drawing a study group or sample from the larger
study population, collecting impersonal data, and performing
statistical analyses on these data.
 By studying a properly selected and representative sample, social
scientists can make accurate inferences about the larger
population.
Survey research is considerably more impersonal than ethnography.
 Survey researchers call the people who make up their study
sample respondents.
 Respondents answer a series of formally administered questions.
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Survey Research
Comparison between Ethnography and Survey Research
ETHNOGRAPHY
SURVEY RESEARCH
is the study whole, functioning
communities
is the study a small sample of a larger
community
is usually based on firsthand fieldwork
during which information is collected after
a good, friendly working relationship,
based on personal contact, is established
between researcher and informants
is often conducted with little to no personal
contact between study subjects and
researchers as interviews are frequently
conducted by assistants over the phone or
in printed form
is generally interested in studying all
aspects of a the informants’ lives (holistic)
usually focused on a small number of
variables, such as ones that influence
voting, rather than on the totality of
people’s lives
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Survey Research
Comparison between Ethnography and Survey Research (continued)
ETHNOGRAPHY
SURVEY RESEARCH
tends to be conducted outside the First
(industrial) World, among communities that
do not read or write
is normally carried out in modern nations ,
where most people are literate, permitting
respondents to fill in their own
questionnaire
makes little use of statistics since the
societies being investigated tend to be
smaller and less diverse
is heavily dependent upon statistical
analyses in order to make inferences
regarding a large and diverse study
community, based on data collected from a
small subset of that community
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Anthropology in Complex Societies
Anthropologists rely increasingly on a variety of different
field methodologies to accommodate a demand for greater
breadth of applicability of results.
 Kottak argues that the core contribution of ethnology
remains the qualitative data that result from close, longterm, in-depth contact between ethnographer and subjects.

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Science
Science is a way of viewing the world.
 Science recognizes the tentativeness and uncertainty of our
knowledge and understanding.
 To improve our knowledge, scientists test hypotheses,
which are suggested explanations of things and events.
 Explanations show how and why the thing to be understood
is related to other things in some known way.
 Explanations rely on associations which are the observed
relationships between two or more measured variables.
 A theory is more general, suggesting and implying
associations and attempting to explain them.

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Social Science
Associations are usually stated probabilistically: two or
more variables tend to be related in a predictable way, but
there are exceptions.
 A theory is an explanatory framework that helps us
understand why something exits.
 Theories cannot be proved, we evaluate them through the
method of falsification.



If a theory is true, certain predictions should stand up to tests
designed to disprove them..
Theories that have not been disproved are accepted.
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History and Philosophy
Mechikoff & Estes, A History and Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education, Fourth Edition ©
2006, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
History
• Working definition: the study of change over
time
• Historians examine how civilizations and
institutions (e.g., sport) change over time
– identify people and events in this change
• History documents what happened and then asks
“why?”
– “What”—usually through artifacts, documents,
photos, etc.
– “Why”—more difficult
• Theories come into play here (modernization, etc.)
Why Study (Sport) History?
•
Provides context and perspective
–
–
•
Studying past civilizations helps explain
what various cultures considered important
“Whoever would know the heart and mind of
America had better learn baseball.”1
Predictive
–
–
History tends to be cyclical
“Those who do not know history are
condemned to repeat its mistakes.”2
Sport—Then
. . . and Now
General Types of History
•
Descriptive: Tells what happened in past. Tries to be
objective.
–
–
•
Generally concerned with the who, what, when, and
where
Also known as chronological or narrative
Interpretive: Uses a set of rules or theory to show and
analyze change over time.
General Types of History
• Interpretive
– Often reveals the “how” and “why”
– Subjective: person selects the theory or
theories that will be used to interpret change
over time
• e.g., feminist, postmodernist, critical
General Types of History
• Which is better?
– Quality determined by sources employed, not
by type or theory
Doing History: Sources
• Two types: primary and secondary
• Primary
– First-hand account
– Newspaper and other artifact sources
• pottery, statues, poems, etc.
– Example: an autobiography or written
account by an Olympic athlete at the
Athens Games
Doing History: Sources
• Secondary: Telling the story from other
sources
– Producer was not there
– Includes books and articles which can use both
primary and secondary sources
• Which source type is better?
– Depends on the quality of the source
Philosophy
•
Derived from the Greek word
philosophia
–
•
“love of wisdom”
Contemporary philosophy: can be
defined as the systematic investigation of
reality, knowledge, and values
Philosophy: Areas of Study
• Epistemology: the study of the nature of
knowledge
• Metaphysics: the study of the nature of reality
– Ontology: the study of the nature of being
– Cosmology: the study of the nature of the universe
– Theology: the study of the nature of God
Philosophy: Areas of Study
• Axiology: the study of the nature of value
– Ethics: the study of the nature of good
– Aesthetics: the study of the nature of beauty
– Politics: the study of the nature of the common
good
Metaphysics/Ontology
• Metaphysics—ultimate nature of reality
– distinguishes between the real and the unreal
• Ontology- branch of metaphysics; deals with
reality related to humans and “being”
– Does being involve only mind, or mind and body?
• Metaphysics
matter
idea
Ontology
body
mind
Greek Example
•
Western world subscribes to Greek
metaphysical and ontological positions
Reality consists of two separate components:
idea and matter
•
–
•
Metaphysical dualism.
Being (existence) is composed of mind and
body
–
Greek ontology is founded upon dualism
Interpretive Frameworks
• Ontology: nature of mind/body
• Modernization theory
• Urbanization/industrialization
Ontology: Nature of Mind & Body
• Relationship between mind and body is critical to
understanding the text
– Relationship between mind and body changes over
time
– Relationship of sport is directly related to the value of
the body in a given culture
• The more important the body is, the more central sport is
• The more important the mind, the less central sport is
Ontology Across Time
Modernization Theory (Adelman)
• An interpretive model that seeks to explain
“change over time”
– Divides culture into “premodern” (traditional)
and “modern”
– Cultures tend to move from premodern to
modern characteristics
Premodern Culture: Characteristics
•
•
•
•
•
Stable
Local
Paternalistic hierarchy in both family and society
Absence of specialized roles
Family and community woven together with
respect to labor, leisure, and religion
• Dependence on manual labor/muscle power
Premodern Culture: Characteristics
• Cyclic time: past, present, and future are same
• Ritual flows through the entire experience of
culture, explaining the meaning of life
• No boundaries between secular and religious life
• No boundaries between work and leisure
• Prevailing attitude is one of acceptance or
resignation
• Repetition is encouraged
Modern Culture: Characteristics
• Dynamic
• Cosmopolitan
• Functional social structure: conforms to
shifting politics and economics
• Meritocratic
• Highly specialized
• Family and community divided by socioeconomic status, job, etc.
Modern Culture: Characteristics
•
•
•
•
•
•
Technological
Linear time: minutes are mortal
Belief that we are rational
Separation between church and state
Boundaries between work and leisure
Desire for change and the belief that it can
be achieved through the application of
rational analysis
Premodern and Modern Sport
Premodern
• Organization
– Nonexistent or informal
– Arranged directly or
indirectly
• Rules
– simple, unwritten
– based on local
customs/traditions
Modern
• Organization
– Formal
– Differentiated at local,
regional, national levels
• Rules
– formal, standard, written
– rational and overseen by
organization
Premodern and Modern Sport
Premodern
• Competition
– locally meaningful
• Roles
– loose distinction among
players/spectators
Modern
• Competition
– national and international
• Roles—specialists
– distinction between
players/spectators
Premodern and Modern Sport
Premodern
• Public information
– limited, local, oral
• Stats/records
– nonexistent, perhaps
anecdotal
Modern
• Public information
– Regular: in local and
national mediums
• Stats/records
– kept regularly
– important measures of
achievement
Industrialization/Urbanization
• Another paradigm to understand change in
sport over time
• Views one’s leisure activities dependent on
living pattern
– Shift from rural to urban patterns
– Move from country games to city games
• from hunting and fishing to urban games
Industrialization/Urbanization
• Concept of enclosure becomes important
– Space is limited
• one’s recreational pursuits are guided into confined
spaces
• Example: American basketball
• Availability of lots of people makes
possible team games
Definitions: Sport, Play, Games
• Sport
– From French de(s)porter and Latin deportare
• “Amusing oneself”
– Modern interpretation: encompasses
competition in numerous forms
• A working definition of sport involves play
and games
Definitions: Sport, Play, Games
• Play: any nonutilitarian and autotelic physical or
intellectual activity
– Nonutilitarian—no motives other than to participate
– Autotelic—done for its own sake and not for a specific
reason
– Can be spontaneous or organized (games)
– A larger domain than sport
Definitions: Sport, Play, Games
• Game
A play activity which has explicit rules,
specified or understood goals . . ., the element
of opposition or contest, recognizable
boundaries in time and sometimes in space,
and a sequence of actions which is essentially
“repeatable” every time the game is played.3
Sport: Working Definition
. . . a playful physical activity that has:
• Continuity (longevity)
• Division of roles
• Dynamic interaction with an audience
• A supporting sport establishment
Classical Western Philosophies
• The mind/body relationship determines much of
what is taught and how it is taught in physical
education.
• Platonic dualism and Descartes’ rationalism
– Have in common the view that the mind and body are
separate and distinct entities.
• Hobbes’ empiricism: argues that there is only the
material world and physical bodies in it.
From Dualism to Monism
•
•
Twentieth century philosophies try to
reconcile mind and body
Monist philosophies: view humans as an
integrated whole
–
–
–
Mind and body are not separate
Knowledge exists in the entire person
Focus is not on the nature of a person, but
how that person experiences reality
Twentieth Century Monistic
Philosophy
• Pragmatism—one of first to reject dualism
– Pragmatists argue that experience, and
therefore the body, is where one begins to
come to know reality
– Pragmatists also argue that man is an
embodied entity (mind and body are
integrated)
Existentialism
•
Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
–
–
•
•
Argued for existence of God
Religion useless if we “reason” our way
back to God
Three stages of life experience:
Aesthetic, Ethical, Religious
Some progress through stages, others
remain in first stage forever
Existentialism
• Third stage is superior
• All three stages reflect the attempt to win
salvation and achieve satisfaction or “life’s
greatest good”
• Was an existentialist because of emphasis
on experience
Phenomenology
• Emphasize epistemology
– Body accesses world/knowledge (instrument)
– Body has inherent meaning
– Body is not enemy of reason/mind
• Emphasizes experience
– Meaning not explained by mind or senses alone
• must be LIVED
– Awareness and meaning associated with movement
Phenomenology and Existentialism
• Both promote subjective experiences that
enhance life
• Promote movement and experiences within
• Experience is where one comes to know
reality
References
1.
2.
3.
George Santayana, “The life of reason,” quoted in J.T. English, A
Garden Book of Profundities, Atticisms, and Smartalek Sayings,
9th ed. (Tacoma, WA: Universidy of Puget Sound, 1905), 60.
Jacques Barzun, “God’s Country and Mine,” quoted in English,
Garden Book of Profundities, Atticisms, and Smartalek Sayings, 5
L.P. Ager, “The Reflection of Cutlural Values in Eskimo
Children’s Games,” in D. Calhoun, Sport, Cuture, and Personality
(Champaign: Human Kinetics, 1987), 47.
UNDERSTANDING
PSYCHOLOGY
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Psychologists at Work

What is the science of psychology?

What are the major specialties in the field
of psychology?

Where do psychologists work?
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Psychology

The scientific study of behavior and mental
processes
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Subfields of Psychology:
Psychology’s Family Tree

Separated by the basic questions about
behavior that they address:





How do our social networks affect behavior?
How do people sense, perceive, learn, and think
about the world?
What are the sources of change and stability in
behavior across a life span?
How do psychological factors affect physical and
mental health?
How do our social networks affect behavior?
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
How Do Our Social Networks Affect
Behavior?

Social Psychology


Cross-Cultural Psychology


The study of how people’s thoughts, feelings, and actions are
affected by others
Investigates the similarities and differences in psychological
functioning in and across various cultures and ethnic groups
What Are the Biological Foundations of Behavior?

Behavioral Neuroscience
 Examines how the brain and the nervous system, in addition
to other biological processes, determine behavior
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
How Do People Sense, Perceive,
Learn, and Think about the
World?

Experimental Psychology
Studies the processes of sensing, perceiving,
learning, and thinking about the world
 Subspecialty
 Cognitive psychology
 Studies higher mental processes such as
thinking, memory, reasoning, problem
solving, judging, decision making, and
language

Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
What Are the Sources of Change
and Stability in Behavior Across
the Life Span?

Developmental Psychology


Studies how people grow and change from
the moment of conception through death
Personality Psychology

Focuses on the consistency in people’s
behavior over time and the traits that
differentiate one person from another
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
How Do Psychological Factors
Affect Physical and Mental Health?

Health Psychology


Clinical Psychology


Explores the relationship between psychological
factors and physical ailments or disease
Deals with the study, diagnosis, and treatment of
psychological disorders
Counseling Psychology

Focuses primarily on educational, social, and careeradjustment problems
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Expanding Psychology’s
Frontiers

Evolutionary Psychology


Considers how behavior is influenced by our
genetic inheritance from our ancestors
Behavioral Genetics

Seeks to understand how we might inherit
certain behavioral traits and how the
environment influences whether we actually
display such traits
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Expanding Psychology’s
Frontiers

Clinical Neuropsychology
Unites the areas of neuroscience and clinical
psychology
 Focuses on the origin of psychological
disorders in biological factors

Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Where Psychologists Work
Figure 1 of Chapter 1
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Psychologists: A Portrait



By 2010 women will outnumber men in the
field
Vast majority of psychologists in the
United States are white
Six percent are members of racial minority
groups

Limits diversity of the field
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
The Education of a
Psychologist

PhD


PsyD


Doctor of psychology
MA or MS


Doctor of philosophy
Master’s degree
BA or BS

Bachelor’s degree
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
A Science Evolves: The Past, the
Present, and the Future

What are the origins of psychology?

What are the major approaches in
contemporary psychology?
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
A Science Evolves: The Past, the
Present, and the Future

What are psychology’s key issues and
controversies?

What is the future of psychology likely to
hold?
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
The Roots of Psychology

Structuralism
Wilhelm Wundt
 Focused on uncovering the fundamental
mental components of perception,
consciousness, thinking, emotions, and other
kinds of mental states and activities
 Introspection

Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
The Roots of Psychology

Functionalism
William James
 Concentrated on what the mind does and how
behavior functions
 Stream of consciousness

Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
The Roots of Psychology

Gestalt Psychology
Emphasized how perception is organized
 “The whole is different from the sum of its
parts”

Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Women in Psychology:
Founding Mothers

Margaret Floy Washburn


Leta Stetter Hollingworth


One of the first psychologists to focus on child
development and on women’s issues
Mary Calkins



First woman to receive a doctorate in psychology
Studied memory
First female president of the American Psychological
Association
Karen Horney

Focused on the social and cultural factors behind
personality
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Women in Psychology:
Founding Mothers

June Etta Downey


Anna Freud



First woman to head a psychology department at a
state university
Daughter of Sigmund Freud
Notable contributions to the treatment of abnormal
behavior
Mamie Phipps Clark

Pioneered work on how children of color grew to
recognize racial differences
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Today’s Perspectives
Figure 3 of Chapter 1
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
The Neuroscience
Perspective: Blood, Sweat,
and Fears

Neuroscience Perspective

Considers how people and nonhumans
function biologically
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
The Psychodynamic
Perspective: Understanding the
Inner Person

Psychodynamic Perspective
Sigmund Freud
 Behavior is motivated by inner forces and
conflicts about which we have little awareness
or control.

Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
The Behavioral Perspective:
Observing the Outer Person

Behavioral Perspective
John B. Watson
 B.F. Skinner
 Focuses on observable behavior that can be
measured objectively

Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
The Cognitive Perspective:
Identifying the Roots of
Understanding

Cognitive Perspective

Focuses on how people think, understand,
and know about the world
 Information processing
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
The Humanistic Perspective: The
Unique Qualities of the Human
Species

Humanistic Perspective
Carl Rogers
 Abraham Maslow
 Emphasis is on free will
 Achieving self-fulfillment

Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Key Issues

Nature (Heredity) versus Nurture (Environment)

Conscious versus Unconscious causes of behavior

Observable Behavior versus Internal Mental Processes

Free Will versus Determinism

Individual Differences versus Universal Principles
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Key Issues
Figure 4 of Chapter 1
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Psychology’s Future




Psychology will become increasingly specialized
and new perspectives will evolve.
Neuroscientific approaches will likely influence
other branches of psychology.
Influence on issues of public interest will grow.
Issues of diversity will become more important to
psychologists providing services and doing
research.
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Research in Psychology




What is the scientific method?
How do psychologists use theory and
research to answer questions of interest?
What research methods do psychologists
use?
How do psychologists establish causeand-effect relationships using
experiments?
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Scientific Method

Approach used by psychologists to
systematically acquire knowledge and
understanding about behavior and other
phenomena of interest

Four main steps




1. Identifying questions of interest
2. Formulating an explanation
3. Carrying out research designed to support or refute
the explanation
4. Communicating the findings
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Scientific Method
Figure 5 of Chapter 1
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Theories: Specifying Broad
Explanations

Theories
 Broad explanations and predictions
concerning phenomena of interest
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Hypotheses: Crafting
Testable Predictions

Hypothesis
Prediction stated in a way that allows it to be
tested
 Stems from theories


Operational Definition

Translation of a hypothesis into specific,
testable procedures that can be measured
and observed
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Psychological Research

Research

Systematic inquiry aimed at the discovery of
new knowledge
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Descriptive Research

Archival Research

Existing data, such as census documents,
college records, and newspaper clippings, are
examined to test a hypothesis.

Example: Looking at college records of students’
grades to see if there are gender differences in
academic performance
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Descriptive Research

Naturalistic Observation

An investigator observes some naturally
occurring behavior and does not make a
change in the situation

Example: Sitting in on a class to see how
frequently male students speak up in class, as
opposed to how frequently female students speak
up
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Descriptive Research

Survey Research

A sample of people chosen to represent a
larger group of interest (a population) is asked
a series of questions about their behavior,
thoughts, or attitudes.

Example: Having a sample of people (an equal
number of male and female students) fill out a
questionnaire about their study habits and grades
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Descriptive Research

The Case Study
 An in-depth, intensive investigation of a
single individual or a small group
 Often includes psychological testing

Example: Investigating an academically
successful student with dyslexia to find
out what specific behaviors led to his
academic success. The findings of this
investigation could then be used to help
other students with dyslexia do better in
school.
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Correlational Research

Two sets of variables are examined to determine
whether they are associated, or correlated.



Variables
 Behaviors, events, or other characteristics that can
change, or vary, in some way
Correlation coefficient
 Positive
 Negative
Example: Comparing the amount of time spent
studying to students’ performance on a test to see if
the amount of time students studied affected their test
scores
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Experimental Research

A researcher investigates the relationship
between two or more variables by
deliberately changing one variable in a
controlled situation and observing the
effects of that change on other aspects of
the situation.

Experimental manipulation
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Experimental Research

Experimental Groups and Control Groups
Treatment
 Manipulation implemented by the
experimenter
 Experimental group
 Receives a treatment
 Control group
 Receives no treatment
 Rules out other reasons for change

Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Experimental Research

Independent and Dependent Variables
Independent
 The condition that is manipulated by an
experimenter
 Dependent
 The variable that is measured and is
expected to change as a result of changes
caused by the experimenter’s manipulation
of the independent variable

Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Experimental Research

Random Assignment of Participants


To make the experiment a valid test of the
hypothesis
Random Assignment to Condition

Participants are assigned to different
experimental groups or conditions on the
basis of chance.
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Designing an Experiment
Figure 6 of Chapter 1
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Experimental Research

Significant Outcome


Using statistical analysis, researchers can
determine whether a numeric difference is a
real difference or is merely due to chance.
Replication

Repeating experiment
 Meta-analysis
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Threats to Experimental
Validity: Avoiding
Experimental Bias

Experimental Bias

Factors that distort the way the independent
variable affects the dependent variable in an
experiment
 Experimenter expectations
 Participant expectations
 Placebo
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Research Challenges:
Exploring the Process

What major issues confront psychologists
conducting research?
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The Ethics of Research

Informed Consent

Participants sign a document affirming that
they have been told the basic outlines of the
study and are aware of what their participation
will involve. They are informed about any risks
the experiment may hold and the fact that
their participation is purely voluntary. They
also are told that they may terminate their
participation at any time.
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Should Animals Be Used in
Research?


Procedures that cause animals distress
are permitted only when an alternative
procedure is not available and when the
research is justified by its prospective
value.
Researchers are required to promote the
psychological well-being of some research
animals, such as primates.
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
Thinking Critically
About Research



What was the purpose of the research?
How well was the study conducted?
Are the results presented fairly?
Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011